Earth ChangesS


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Rare 4.1 earthquake and aftershock rattles Duchesne, Utah

Julie Applegate
St George News
Wed, 25 May 2016 17:55 UTC
Duschesne earthquake map
© University of Utah Seismic Station, St. George NewsLocation of Wednesday's earthquake
A 4.1 earthquake hit at 7:01 a.m. Wednesday morning 8.4 miles northeast of Hanna. The area is 25 miles north and west of Duchesne and 55 miles north and east of Provo.

A second, smaller earthquake measuring 3.0 struck the same area at 7:24 a.m.

Earthquakes are rare in the Uintah Mountains east of the Intermountain seismic belt, according to the U.S. Geological Service, and earthquakes recorded in the area are generally small.

Ground shaking was not expected to be strong.

Comment: Historical data shows that since 1962, only seven earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater have occurred within 16 miles of the Wednesday earthquake epicenter.

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Attention

New lava flows on Pu'u O'o volcano, Hawaii


Big Island Video News
Wed, 25 May 2016 19:12 UTC
Puʻu ʻŌʻō volcano
© USGS Puʻu ʻŌʻō volcano
Scientists have posted the first images of the new lava breakouts that began erupting this morning from the flanks of Puʻu ʻŌʻō.

The lava flows are situated close to the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone. The two different flows broke out at around 6:50 a.m., in concert with sharp deflationary tilt on the East Rift on Kilauea volcano.

The larger of the two breakouts, shown in the USGS photo above, originated on the northeast flank of the cone, at the site of the vent for the ongoing June 27th lava flow. Scientists say this breakout point fed a vigorous channelized flow that extended about 0.6 miles. This lava flow had not extended beyond the existing Puʻu ʻŌʻō flow field as of 8:30 a.m., the time the photos were taken.

A wider view of the larger breakout traveling down the north flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, towards the northwest.
© USGSA wider view of the larger breakout traveling down the north flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, towards the northwest.
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Snowflake Cold

Unusual snowstorms and blizzards in China - three weeks before summer

Adapt 2030
YouTube
Sat, 21 May 2016 18:14 UTC
Snowstorm blocked highway traffic in Northern Xinjiang
© YouTube/CCTV+ (screen capture)Snowstorm blocked highway traffic in Northern Xinjiang May 2016
China received unusual blizzards and snowstorms across four provinces over the last two weeks just weeks before summer. This occurred in the USA during the same time. Unusual is an understatement when a desert area gets a blizzard when it should be average temperatures of 30C/89F.


Comment: Snowfall records smashed across US as northern hemisphere struggles into 'summer'

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Tornado1

Severe thunderstorms wreaks havoc across U.S. Plains; tornadoes, flash flooding

TW
The Watchers
Wed, 25 May 2016 17:12 UTC
Dodge City tornado
© AccuWeather/Reed Timmer
Severe thunderstorms hit portions of the Plains on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, producing about 26 tornadoes in five different states. More than 12 touched down in Kansas and several more in Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado. This round of severe weather will continue through the rest of the week.

In Kansas, a powerful thunderstorm passed near Dodge City producing multiple tornadoes at the same time. A large tornado formed near the city just after 18:00 (local time) and tracked west of the city center destroying a home in Ensign. Highway 50, between Dodge City and Cimarron, was briefly shut down due to damage. According to The Associated Press, two people were critically injured. ABC reported six homes were damaged.

A large tornado was also spotted near Scott City, but this one did not produce any major damage.

Wind gusts reached ~90 - 100 km/h (55 - 60 mph) in Hoisington damaging roofs and knocking down power lines, Weather.com reported. Heavy rains caused major flash flooding in Great Bend with 15 to 30 cm (6 - 12 inches) of water reported on several roads.

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Bug

Wasps deployed to fight the killer of 38 million ash trees


The Guardian
Wed, 25 May 2016 15:16 UTC
The emerald ash borer is a threat to trees in the US and Europe.
© Alamy The emerald ash borer is a threat to trees in the US and Europe.
Millions of tiny wasps that are natural parasites for the emerald ash borer have been released into wooded areas in 24 states of the US to try and peg back the tree-killing insect's advances.

The US Department of Agriculture has researched and approved for release four species of parasitic wasps that naturally target the larval and egg stages of the ash borer, which has killed an estimated 38m ash trees in urban and residential areas. The estimated cost of treating, removing and replacing the lost trees is $25bn, according to a report written by USDA and US Forest Service entomologists.

On average, federal and state resource managers spend more than $29m per year to manage ash borer populations.
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Arrow Down

Car swallowed by sinkhole in Barnaul, Russia

Kelly-Ann Mills
Daily Mirror
Wed, 25 May 2016 14:24 UTC
It needed 15 people to get it back out
© CENIt needed 15 people to get it back out
This incredible footage reveals what greeted a 24-year-old woman when responded to her car alarm going off in the street.

Elena Silina had parked her Toyota IST outside a hotel where she worked in its beauty parlour.

But when she heard her car alarm she rushed outside and was shocked by the sight that greeted her.

As the footage shows, her car was almost swallowed whole by the massive sinkhole which had opened up in the road.

Ms Silina said: "When I looked down, I saw my car sinking into the road!"

She called the emergency services who needed 15 people and a crane to lift the car out of the sinkhole.

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Arrow Down

Landslide kills over a dozen at jade mine in Myanmar


Al Jazeera
Wed, 25 May 2016 13:21 UTC
The site of a landslide at a jade mine in Kachin State, Myanmar, where as many as 100 people were feared missing.
© European Pressphoto Agency The site of a landslide at a jade mine in Kachin State, Myanmar, where as many as 100 people were feared missing.
At least 13 people have been killed by a landslide in Myanmar's northern jade-mining region that left dozens missing, an official has said.

Two piles of mining debris collapsed late on Monday after two days of rain, Myo Thet Aung, deputy head of Hpakant township administration office in Kachin State, said on Tuesday.

"We recovered 11 bodies last night and two more this morning," he said, adding that the death toll was expected to rise.

"Witnesses said there were about 100 workers when the accident occurred," he told DPA news agency. "Many are still buried."

Myanmar Times reported that the search had been temporary called off due to heavy rain.

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Bizarro Earth

200-meter-long sinkhole swallows dozens of cars in Florence, Italy


RT
Wed, 25 May 2016 12:48 UTC
Sinkhole in Florence
A giant sinkhole opened up in the very center of Florence, Italy, swallowing dozens of cars parked near the iconic Ponte Vecchio bridge. Firefighters claim that the sinkhole appeared after an old underground pipe broke. No injuries were reported, but two buildings in the surrounding area were evacuated.

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Attention

Magnitude 5.5 earthquake hits near the island of Crete in Greece


Global News
Wed, 25 May 2016 10:36 UTC
quake
© El Comercio/AP
Greek authorities say a strong earthquake with preliminary magnitude 5.5 has occurred off the southern island of Crete, but no damage or injuries have been reported.

Athens University's Geodynamic Institute says the undersea quake struck at 11:36 a.m. Wednesday, 30 kilometres (19 miles) south-southeast of Crete's southeastern tip.

Greece is one of the world's most seismically active countries, with hundreds of earthquakes recorded every year from several faults. But severe damage or injuries are rare.
#Earthquake 5.5R 30Km SSE of #Crete. Minor #power disruptions were reported in Heraklion pic.twitter.com/VO2AAqd8BV

— Thanasis Mitsakos (@TMitsakos) May 25, 2016
In 1999, a strong earthquake near Athens killed 143 people, levelling some buildings and causing extensive damage to others.
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Snowflake

Snowfall record hit on May long weekend in Fort St. John, Canada

Dwight Ford
Energetic City
Tue, 24 May 2016 10:22 UTC
Snow on Friday May 20, 2016 set a one day record for Fort St. John.
Snow on Friday May 20, 2016 set a one day record for Fort St. John.
The month of May has again lived up to its weather reputation in this region with record one day snowfall and precipitation amounts on Friday pushing monthly totals well past the norms.

The local airport weather station posted 19.4 centimetres of snow on Friday, and along with 1.2 millimetres of rain, that lifted the precipitation total to 20.6 millimetres.

The previous May 20th records were 18.8 millimetres of precipitation and only 1.6 centimetres of snow.

In addition when the Friday numbers were added to those posted Thursday, it resulted in two day snowfall and precipitation totals of 20.2 centimetres and 33.2 millimetres.

The latter was more than three and half times the amount of precipitation recorded at the airport station in the previous 18 days of this month, and it left the year-to-date total at 44.7 millimetres, nearly seven more than the May norm of 37.9.
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